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Sun of Shadows/Chapter 17
This is the seventeenth chapter in Sun of Shadows and the eighth in part two, Ice. The Truth Speechless, Geb stared at what had just been a breathtaking sea of all sorts of colors. But now, the band in the sky managed to be even blacker than the nightly darkness around it, like a complete absence of all light. Too late, it dawned on him that it was the Shadows' work, not until Sedna said it. He felt Karzelek clinging to his clothes as if seeking protection from the Shadows. But he was startled when he saw that his friend's gaze didn't go to either him or the shadow veil - but to Iris. Who looked back with a terribly knowing expression. "Karzie," Geb whispered to the boy. "What's going on?" But Karzelek didn't have the strength to reply. Instead, he began to search the sky, to look for the Shadows behind it all. Geb recognized the small yet strong body of Khya immediately. They had met the Shadow girl more often than he liked... and yet he was surprised to notice that he was glad to see her. The last time they talked to each other had been when they found out her true name and saved her life. Even then he had felt that he liked her somehow. Geb noticed a second Shadow high in the sky, apparently busy using their magic. They made no move to come to them; it was Khya hovering above them, just enough distance between Nergal and her that he couldn't hurt her with his magic. She, too, had brought appropriate clothing for the climate... but stolen it, he suspected. "What, by Fuocith, are you doing here?", Nergal threw directly at her. Not only because it had been her who had turned him into a Half-Shadow, but also because she was destroying his dream of relevance just now. "Hello to you too," she replied, before switching to a friendlier tone. "And to the rest of you. After all, our last meeting was already a few days ago." She looked at Iris and Karzelek most of all, which only made Geb even more unsure. Had the two met her again after the fight on the ship? But he'd have noticed! And they would've told him, right? When he felt that he couldn't expect any help from the two, he took the floor himself. "Hello, Khya. What brings you here?" "Take a guess." But she sounded friendlier than before. "Umbrath's awakening is in a few days. You can surely imagine that we can't allow you to get any visions of Lumeon's prophecy here." Sura had calmed down a bit in the meantime, staring in horror at the shadow band in the sky. Did she still see signs in it? Either way, Khya didn't mention such a thing, but simply continued. "None of you will kill Umbrath, I've tried to explain that to you often enough. I admire you for what you've achieved so far, that's true... but Umbrath will live and nobody will stop him. Neither you nor the Elm of Light, which, according to the oh-so-awesome Lumeon, is destined for it." Perry was silent. Geb suddenly realized that Khya was the first Shadow the boy ever got to see. He was too busy putting this being into his mind to respond to her comment. That would take a few more minutes. "I have to say, Astraia was right. Not even I would have thought that Lumeon would see it through. That's even below his dignity." "Leave Perry alone," Sedna called up to her. "He's heard this stuff often enough." "I'm sorry he got sucked into all of this too." Khya gave Perry a compassionate look before addressing Iris and Karzelek again. "I think it's time for Perry to find out the truth. And not just him - all of you." Nergal scoffed. "Save me your Shadow lies." "They're not coming from me," Khya explained. "Do you believe a Light Elmin more than me? She was right there at what she wants to tell you." Already she had turned in the air and looked up to the shadow band. "Astraia!", she called. "They're ready." I doubt it. Geb felt queasy, he wanted to be somewhere else. Like so often, he could sense that something big was about to happen, even if he didn't know the exact content. But there was no turning back - the sky was brightening as Khya's acquaintance stopped her magic and the only recently so reassuring band shone in all colors again. Geb could hardly rejoice, because now he saw that someone was approaching from up there: Another Shadow, bigger than Khya and also in thick clothes. On the free parts of her body Geb saw the markings of the woman; not dark, but golden like Perry's, just a little paler. This Shadow used to be a Light Elmin. But who would... how could... "Thesan," Sedna realized, her voice dry. Yes, in the face of the woman Geb could see how old and exhausted she looked compared to the other Light Elmen. And yet her golden eyes beamed, looking at Perry with such affection that it reminded Geb of Karzelek and for a moment made him forget that this woman had been imprisoned by Lumeon for years. "Yes," said the woman, her voice shaking. "I am Thesan. Was Thesan, until I got the chance to take revenge on Lumeon." She looked almost grateful to Iris and Karzelek and all eyes turned to the two. The realization hit Geb immediately. "The night in the palace," he said. "You visited Thesan." "And freed her, apparently," Five added, sounding impressed rather than scared. No wonder, she had no idea what had happened to them along their journey. Geb saw Iris tremble. "It wasn't intentional!", she defended herself. "We just wanted to talk to Thesan." "And we have," Karzelek said quietly. "We found out a lot. But we wanted to wait with telling you until it's -" "Too late?" Nergal crossed his arms. "Congratulations." Geb forced himself to breathe deeper. Why did everyone always have to carry secrets with them? Important things they could have prepared for? Ani jumped in for him. "What did you find out?" But Karzelek looked up. "I think Thesan - Astraia, I mean - would like to tell us herself." "It has long been time for that." The Elmin elegantly descended onto the island and neatly folded her Shadow-typical wings. Geb couldn't stop it, he took a step back - just like the others, which Astraia noted with a frown. She opened her mouth to speak on and was flung away by a huge paw. "Astraia!", Khya called and shot down from the sky to look after the woman. Lumeon ignored her. The winged lion was just small enough to still fit on the island, which now offered hardly any freedom of movement. They were at the mercy of the Keeper. At his mercy. The words entered Geb's thoughts and he was frightened by that himself. But it was fitting, Lumeon's anger at the Shadows felt as if it was also directed at everyone else. "I told you I would keep an eye on you, Hyperion," Lumeon's voice roared in their heads, and the lion himself growled. "Good that I keep my word. You were supposed to kill those Shadows in seconds! It seems that this task now comes to me." Geb's thoughts raced. Lumeon couldn't kill Khya! That she was a Shadow didn't mean anything. She wasn't evil, he was more than sure of that by now. "Wait a minute," Sedna protested, and Geb felt his affection for her. Not many dared to speak up to a Keeper. "Didn't you say you don't have to kill the Shadows? Because they would take their original form after Umbrath's death?" Lumeon's head moved in her direction, barely noticeable with his enormous size. Geb saw a hint of surprise that vanished quickly. "That's right," the lion replied. "But Thesan is a criminal who has not only broken our law, but has deceived our tribe in a terrible way. Never before has an Elm of Light joined forces with Umbrath." "Time to change that." With Khya's help, Thesan, now called Astraia, managed to get up, though she still had to lean on the girl. Lumeon's move hadn't left her unhurt. "If you want to kill me, Lumeon, go ahead. I've lived many centuries longer than any Elm ever should. But please - let me finish. If not about your endless list of outrages, then at least about the one you called Hyperion. He deserves to know his own story." "What does she mean by that?", Perry asked uncertainly. He had never doubted Lumeon and had to be completely overwhelmed, which Geb could only understand too well. He, too, could hardly arrange his thoughts, too many snippets of knowledge whirled around in his head. Thesan had been imprisoned for years, was she still sane or crazy? Could they believe her even a single word? But Geb hadn't forgotten her look. That warmth, that recognition she'd shown Perry. "I would like to hear it," he said. When the Keeper still hesitated, Perry spoke again. "I owe you so much, Lumeon. Nothing this Shadow says could make me think otherwise." Lumeon bowed his head to a slight nod. "Thank you for your trust, Hyperion. It is true - as forgettable as this story is, my role in it is not a bad one." Astraia scoffed, but Lumeon ignored it. "Go ahead, Thesan. Tell these Elmen how you once violated our laws." "My pleasure." With Khya's help, the Shadow limped back to the group, as close to Perry as he allowed without retreating. "As you may know, the Tribe of Light is immortal - its Elmen today are the same as the founding members from more than a thousand years ago." "With a few drawbacks," Lumeon added. "About half of the once three hundred Elmen fell in the Great Battle against Umbrath and his Shadows." "One hundred and thirty-seven we are now," Astraia nodded. "And Hyperion, of course." "Which doesn't change anything," Lumeon replied dryly. "Since you chose the Shadows." "For good reason," Astraia replied, but changed the subject. "In any case, immortality is more bearable for some than for others. Bennu has his stars and Latona the paintings she decorates the corridors with year after year." "And you?", Five asked, curious. Astraia let out a pained laugh. "Me? I had nothing like that. But after almost two hundred years, Bennu discovered that there would be a solar eclipse that could let Umbrath escape. I thought Hey, until then you keep going. You want to see Lumeon defeat Umbrath a second time. For I had noticed that the tribes already worshiped us a little less than in the days of the Ancient Civilization - what would Elysia look like in eight hundred years? I was curious about that, especially since I couldn't help feeling a bit spiteful about Lumeon back then." "Back to topic," the lion growled, still in a tense standing pose, even though he could have lain down like when he had talked to the friends back then. In fact, Astraia grinned gleefully, but Perry frowned. Surely he didn't like the way she subtly insulted the mightiest of Keepers, but her story had matched what he'd explained to Sedna so far. Was she telling the truth? "It was a few years before said solar eclipse when curiosity took over me. What did the tribes think of us, now, after all these years? Did they fear Umbrath or did they have complete faith in Lumeon? I was determined to find out." "So you left the island," Sedna said, well remembering Perry's words. Astraia smiled at her. "Over the decades, I've often watched Lumeon explore the tribes with his magic without actually visiting them. But that wasn't enough for me anymore. I flew off - and chose the territory of the Earth Tribe." Geb froze. That was his tribe! Now it was he whom Astraia looked at with a smile. "Why exactly this tribe?", Ani asked, but she didn't sound jealous. Why would she? "It covers a very large territory," Astraia explained. "There are a lot of villages that are rather secluded, and I thought it was better not to head straight to the residence of a high-ranking person. I quickly found such a village where I wanted to speak to its inhabitants, I could already see it on the horizon. But I had underestimated the heat of Xiro's savanna and was quickly exhausted, so I waited in a shady forest for dusk. There I met an Elmin." "From the Earth Tribe?", Iris asked. "Or from another?" "What was her name?", Geb asked as well. Maybe he knew her! Nergal stared at him. "How would she know that?" "Because they probably talked to each other," Five said, and Astraia nodded. "It was an Earth Elmin and yes, I talked to her. But only after I accidentally scared her. At first she thought I was a Shadow, but when she realized what I was, she literally dropped to her knees and implored me for help." "What happened?", Ani inquired pitifully, a healer through and through. "That's what I wanted to ask her, too, but I saw it myself: something wrapped in a kind of sheet, a dark-brown infant like the woman herself, but with lighter, almost orange spots." An Impure, Geb knew. Astraia didn't have to say it, most of them knew the spotted creatures that came from the love of two tribes. "The woman's name was Ashnan," Astraia continued, and Geb was a little disappointed. Not a name that meant anything to him - but Astraia was right, the territory of his tribe was gigantic. "She called her son Sancus, after a god of trust and oaths, as she explained to me in tears." Nergal snorted at the irony of the name, but Astraia didn't let herself be distracted, continuing to speak in a determined voice. "She came from the village I had spotted in the distance, and had come here to this forest to kill her son. There was no future for him in her tribe and she saw it as the only way to spare him further suffering." Geb swallowed, even though he knew that was the bitter reality. For countless Impure parents all over Elysia. "But then you showed up," Iris said in a thin voice, her eyes darting to none other than Perry, who looked very pale even with white skin. Very slowly, it all came together in Geb's head, but he couldn't really believe it yet. Could it really be that... "Ashnan begged me to help her. She didn't think of destiny or luck in need and she didn't ask me for anything, she only wanted one thing: for me to grant her son a life. And I did, in the only way I could think of at that moment; the only one I knew. No matter how long ago it was that I had done it last; no matter what Lumeon or the rest of the tribe would think. I changed this boy and took him with me." Geb was at a loss for words and no sound came from the others either, even Five was completely silent. Slowly, very slowly, he dared look at Perry, who was trembling all over and couldn't take his eyes off Astraia. Geb didn't know what Lumeon had told him - but it had obviously been something completely different. Perry's mouth opened and closed again and again, searching for the right words, until finally three of them escaped. He didn't have the power for more. "...and the father?" Astraia closed her eyes as if she wanted to remember every detail. "A Sky Elm called Enlil, feathers orange like the morning. A healer Ashnan had met in the Desert War when he saved her life. They met again and again in secret until Ashnan became pregnant -" "And had me," Perry muttered, then he was quiet. Completely quiet. It was Iris who broke the silence and confronted Lumeon. "Is she telling the truth?" "I didn't bother with the details," the Keeper said, as if he didn't care at all. "But it's true that one day Thesan came before me with an infant of our tribe." "And you took her prisoner," Sedna finished. "On that day, she broke all the laws our tribe had ever known," Lumeon glared at her. "She more than deserved her punishment." "And Perry had to suffer!" "You must refer to the chosen one by his true name." "What? Sancus?" "Enough!" That wasn't Lumeon's voice, but Perry's. It was terrible how exhausted the boy looked. "I don't care what my name is. I just want to know...", this time he looked at Lumeon, not at Astraia, "...how you still know that I'm the chosen one. If you punished Astraia instead of rewarding her." For a moment, Lumeon looked surprised, he hesitated. One moment too long. "Because the prophecy is a lie!", Astraia shouted so loud that everyone could hear it. "A lie by Lume-" Her cries were drowned out by Lumeon's roar that rang in Geb's ears and seemed to penetrate his thoughts. The lion had turned to Astraia with such force that his tail could have swept them all off the island had they stood behind him. He roared directly at her and then something shot from his huge mouth. No fire, but light, bundled in a single bright beam that struck Astraia with full force. Geb faintly heard the screams of the others, but eventually Lumeon's roar died away and with it the light that had met Astraia. There, where she had just stood, was nothing but a pile of dark ashes on the bright snow. Lumeon licked his front leg as if nothing had happened. "There. Where were we?" Geb couldn't stop shaking. Lumeon had killed Astraia, just like that, without warning. No, he had warned her, she had known how Lumeon would react to her claim. The claim that was perhaps the real reason for Geb's trembling. Or was it... shoot, Khya had stood right next to Astraia! Lumeon had murdered her without hesitation, there was no way she could have avoided it. The thought hurt Geb more than he wanted to admit; she was a Shadow and he didn't agree with any of her views. But she was also an Impure who had suffered terrible things and was so full of hope. Or had been. On his pelvis he felt Karzelek, this time not clinging to Four-Leaf, but to him. "He scares me," the boy whispered, and Geb found himself agreeing with his friend. Only slowly did he realize what that meant for all of them. They were more afraid of Lumeon than of the Shadows. "...what did she mean by that?", Perry asked the Keeper. Unbelievable that he had the power to talk again already, no matter how thin he sounded. There was no sympathy in Lumeon's face. "Nothing that matters," he said curtly. "It's better you forget this incident and focus on your task. Only a few days separate us from Umbrath's return and you know that we cannot approach Crescent Island with magic. We will travel to Xiro and fly from there." Geb didn't like the way Lumeon handled Perry's question. When he glanced at Sura, she shook her head, apparently she hadn't found out anything in the lights. But no matter who was destined to save the world, someone had to stop Umbrath from taking revenge, that was for certain. He would have understood if Perry had backed down now, but the boy nodded. "As you wish. But my friends will accompany us." "Do you mean these Elmen?" Lumeon asked. "Out of the question. They would only stop you unnecessarily." "They've been teaching me a lot in the last few days," Perry said without seeming defiant. He sounded sincere and somehow that made Geb a little proud. Because Perry had gotten to know so much more than his home, like all of them, and it didn't matter what the future would look like right now. "Maybe they can help us." At least Nergal was smart enough not to say that they might eventually defeat Umbrath. After Lumeon's demonstration of power, not even he wanted to mess with the Keeper. "It would be a great honor," he said instead, which had to cost him a lot of effort. He didn't seem to fully trust Lumeon either. The Keeper looked at him suspiciously. Did he suspect something? But finally he nodded. "Very well, you may come with us. After all, I well remember how you told me your story. How else could I appreciate your determination than with seats in the first row? Should you prove to be annoying, we can still sort this out then and there." Geb had to swallow involuntarily. It sounded like Lumeon wanted to get rid of them at the first opportunity. But it was too late to back down. Already he sensed how Lumeon used his magic and wrapped them all in light, ready for the journey to the other end of the world. Category:Chapters Category:EE3 Chapters